Rail Corridor

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Member

Two of Ireland's largest cities Galway and Limerick are not linked by rail. The Govt. didn't promise that the Western Rail Corridor will be re opened but that its a possibility. This govt. has forgotten about the West pumping too much money into the pale

Member

It is faily cronic that there are no direct rail lines from the second largest city in this state to the third, fourth or even any other city apart from Dublin in this country, in the words of Jim Mcdaid, every other banana republic would have this sorted out??

Well-known member

I believe if we are to allievate the pressures on the infrastructure of Dublin we need a counter weight urban development on the west coast. Using Cork/Limerick/Galway as the axis makes sense and a train service of 2 hours of thereabouts from Cork to Galway would be a start.

Active member

The rail system here is pretty pathetic alright. Since the foundation of the State no new lines have been laid and instead we had the massive closures in the middle of the last century. However, given that Iarnrod Eireann still own a lot of the land that the tracks ran on, it wouldn't require the kind of route issues motorways present if they decided to relay track - or better still make it available to a private operator to take it on.

If Sligo-Cork was built, that would only leave Sligo-Derry neccessary to complete a round-Ireland route.

If you can justify Sligo-Galway, then Sligo-Derry via Donegal & Letterkenny makes sense too. Shutting some of the plethora of little airports around the place and integrating the remaining ones into a rail network would save some of the funds needed to run the trains.

Active member

I agree that in order to balance regional development, we need to put in place two centres which can provide economic "critical mass" and act as counterpoints to Dublin. One of those is Cork, the other is the "Atlantic Corridor" from Limerick through to Galway.

But bear in mind that a modern fast rail link from Cork to Galway would cost a very large sum of money and would never break even. Cross-country rail links work well when they connect big centres of population. But in rail terms, Ireland only has one big centre of population - although Belfast would just about qualify on some criteria. Without big population centres at either end of the line or along the line, a cross-country rail link is an inevitable loss maker.

Here's a puzzle for you - do the maths and see what answer you get. If we were to cover up and tarmac the railway line from Dublin to Galway, and use it as a dedicated busway instead of running trains, how long would a journey between the two cities take? Try the same calculation for Cork if you like.